December 19, 2008

Save your carburetors from ethanol!

The 10% ethanol content of current gasoline can be problematic for storage in chain saws, portable generators and so forth.

Ethanol is extremely hygroscopic, meaning that it will draw moisture right out of the atmosphere. When you leave gas that contains ethanol in your lawnmower or whatever, it will mix moisture right into your gas. This will create a number of acidic byproducts over time that will serve to deposit junk in your carburetors and make them unusable.

So when you are done with your gasoline-powered tools for the season; empty all the gas out of the tank, start them, and run them until they use up what gas remained in the lines and carburetor. You’ll be thankful you did, because nothing is more aggravating than going to use a tool and discovering that it needs an overhaul before you can get started on the task at hand.

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How does one know if the gasoline one is using in small machinery contains ethanol? I’m asking about chainsaws: the fuel we use, which we mix ourselves, is a 50:1 mix of best-quality gasoline, and special chainsaw oil. I don’t even know anything about gasoline, such as what is the difference between the cheapest and the best.

John Young adds:
Almost all gasoline you buy is now mandated to contain 10% ethanol. So if you have gasoline, unless you refined it yourself, it contains ethanol.